Comment of the day

Posted by Leslie Darmanin beneath the piece about Muscat wanting less time on Xarabank then pulling out entirely from the March debate:

He is not interested in a debate. He thinks (and is probably right) that the election is in the bag. He has a fixed programme of events and promises between now and election day and these debates do not fit in the scheme of things because, as we all know, they could go anywhere.

This Muscat has been lying low for years and just needs to continue to do so for a few more weeks. Then his real self will come out, when he walks into Castille – a laid back, inexperienced politician surrounded by Mintoffian-era rats.

He has one strategy – eyewash.

Forget the essence, values, principles… All he has to do is add the disgruntled Nationalists, the opportunists and the gays to his diehard supporters and he’s got it made.

Why should he debate?

He has created an unholy alliance between vested commercial interests, homosexual men who are too young and politically inexperienced to know better (the older ones seem to think differently), conservative Labourites and, worst of all, turncoats who are ready to cut off their balls to annoy the wife, as the old adage goes.

In the absence of any economic policies by the Labour Party, we need to look more at what the Labour Party’s friends are up to.

Do you remember how proud Joseph Muscat was about taking a photo with Mr Hollande and how much he cheered after Hollande was elected?

Since being elected, taxes have risen immensely leading the richest people (read businessmen and investors) to leave the country, most dramatically Bernard Arnault (the richest man in France) and Gerard Depardieu who accused Hollande of wanting to suppress success and creativity.

Businesses have been beating a path out of France and/or laying off large amounts of workers. Peugeot Citroen, Air France, Sinofi, AlcerolMittal and others. The industry minister even threatened AlcerolMittal with nationalisation of the company and at one point even said that France doesn’t want AlcerolMittal because it is not French enough.

All this sent shock waves around the business world.

This comes on top of comments Hollande has made multiple times saying that he can’t stand the rich. Francois Hollande is the president to lose popularity the fastest after being elected in living memory.

Those who think that the Maltese Socialists are far removed from their French counterparts should remember that it was only a little while ago that someone from the Labour camp was saying that Malta doesn’t need HSBC.

It all reminds me of that comment made by Margaret Thatcher (Daphne had uploaded a video of it) saying that socialists don’t want everyone to become wealthier but they want the rich to become poorer.

Prosit, Leslie, well said. And the worst thing about the “turncoats” is that they aren’t even convinced about Labour’s manifesto, but are just looking after their narrow personal interest, ghax hi, you never know, Joey forsi jahseb jaghtina xi kuntratt.

I wish someone could explain the reasoning, as cheaper bills give more profits.

More profits do not give more jobs but work (i.e. investment) that needs human resources provides for and creates a demand for more jobs.

Now if PL are intending to get salaries equivalent to the reduction in utility bills or interfere with the free labour market by imposing that people be employed as otherwise there will be no reduction, that’s a different matter.

The Times reported that the only machines that continued to work and provide electricity were ‘the diesels at the Delimara extension’. CORRECT as Konrad Mizzi would say.

Correct, true, but equally misleading.

It seems to me that because the reporter had something good to say about them he avoided calling them as they are better known to everyone, that is ‘The BWSC power plant’.

Oddly enough TVM screwed up further, possibly through ignorance rather than deceit. They said that the only machines that continued to run were the ones running on diesel.

Wrong. The machines are diesel engines but they do NOT run on diesel but on heavy fuel oil.

The machines that do run on diesel are the gas turbine and the combined cycle gas turbines at Marsaxlokk and not one of those continued to work when the power cut happened.

I can understand that Cikku l-poplu can get confused by diesels running on oil and gas turbines running on diesel but a self respecting journalist reporting on such things should not make such mistakes.

In 2008 there were 21,500 possible new eligible voters but only 8,500 more voters from 2300.

Labour got 7500 more and PN 2700 less: anyone has a doubt that the majority of the 13000 +/- that did not vote or cast a non-vote were coming from the blue side of the Islands??

It will be the same story this time round: PN is trying to convince their disgruntled supporters to place their trust in them yet again while Labour is doing it’s best to dissuade them from voting!

PN needs to work harder to remain in power because they are aware 2008 was too close to call. PL needs or should have sat pretty but it is dragging itself in debates which it should have avoided (in my most humble view).

Having lived overseas for over 5 years, I am aghast at the way with which the Malta socialist party is embracing and actively pushing for gay rights.

What I find more astounding is the fact that it seems that the Catholic vote (which you can say is around 50% of the nation judging by the divorce referendum) is not strong enough to keep these marauding hordes of barbarians out (I mean Labour, not homosexuals).

The PN (from abroad) appears ineffectual; they seem to side with Labour’s progressive stance to appear “modern”. That is POLITICAL SUICIDE. I vote PN because they are different, they have values – country and faith. And they work.

I do not vote MLP…because they have NO values – and they don’t work.

The PN must remain Christian Democrat conservative, right of centre. It currently appears to be sliding to liberal democrat, which won’t work as the Maltese love to identify themselves with values – with what is right.

The Maltese psyche, just like the Mediterranean psyche, does not grasp grey areas or philosophical concepts well; it either is or it isn’t.

Maghna jew mhux.

If the PN turns into an MLP look-alike, they will simply suffer a more humiliating defeat than currently expected. I am so glad to be away from those sundrenched shores.

I won’t have to hear them driving by, on the back of cattle trucks, screaming “pufti kollha intom” (the irony of it all), and “hudu go fikom aaaa demel”, and “viva l-Labour, viva l-Labour, hej hej”, “Gonzi pufta kollu”, and so on.

Thus missing Valletta 2018, the EU presidency, and the 50th anniversary of independence, and having to re-apply for EU membership, besides being faced with a massive national debt, and an economy in tatters.

At that point, the EU will have had enough of our freezing and thawing and withdrawing and reapplying, and it will be in no state to open accession negotiations with anyone.

Simon Busuttil will therefore govern over a country sinking to third world levels, abandoned by its European cousins, and degraded to junk level by the major credit rating agencies.

With unemployment reaching 40+%, and health services and pensions reduced to the bare minimum, he is faced with massive protests, which spill over into violence, with widespread looting and damage.

With no EU passport, the Maltese, now out of work and desperately seeking a way out, will try to emigrate en masse, but will be refused by all countries, including former friend China, which is loath to share its riches with inferior races.

With the collapse of the economy, many couples try to sell off their houses while they can, as two vast empty hulks of the once glorious gas tanks become a makeshift home.

Hundreds of families live and sleep on the bare concrete floor, selling scrap metal to marauding pirates from the North African coast, where the Algerian and Tunisian governments survive in a few crowded enclaves.

In vain they signal to passing vessels from the European Union Mediterranean Protection Force, which has strict orders not to intervene outside EU territorial waters…

Italy: “DCs withdraw their support for the coalition” but when ‘push came to shove’ they voted WITH the government to pass the budget which was full of austerity measures’.

Malta: When push came to shove, Joseph & his slaves voted AGAINST passage of the Budget and caused S & P to lower Malta’s credit rating. When push comes to shove, Joseph places himself and the Muscat Labour Party ahead of the country’s interests.

Short in (political) stature, short of ideas, and wants shorter debate on Xarabank and withdraws prematurely. But with six more weeks to go, there’s a good chance of doing another U-turn. He is well experienced in that department.

What some people are overlooking is why are so many tradtitional nationalist voters up till today abstaining from voting? Very easy answer , The nationalist woke up too late to realise they left a very frustrated electorate in the lurk far too long. It is sad that without their vote they will be aiding indirectly labour. But sadly it is evident that there was too much greed within certain sectors and the way posts were given in a very nepotistic way. We have experienced young aged civil servants being promoted to very high posts. These posts were traditionally handed to long serving civil servants, who by their experience would hand in administrative expertise for about 7 years before they retire. Now these so called youngsters with a pile of papers clamouring to be qualifications , they occupy these posts at a young age without allowing anyone to move up because of this greed. The nationalist administration is guilty of such abuses and should have never taken place. I suppose the thank you came from these very people after the government showered them with all kinds of favour they thanked it by doing all kinds of back stabbing.

How did you arrive at “Muscat not wanting to debate”? There are at least another three such occasions when he faces Gonzi in the coming weeks, apart from having done so (brilliantly I might add) yesterday on Xarabank.

[Daphne – Since you are so clearly invested in the Labour Party, your number 1 task right now should be to find out why women react negatively to Muscat at a visceral level. I am merely the very public outward manifestation of that.]

The other day on TV it was a creature in the shape of a woman (not a shapely one at that, I must admit) who, among a cluster of admirers yelling ‘Joseph, Joseph’ was heard to pronounce ‘Kemm inti sabih, Joseph’. I would not call that a negative reaction at a visceral level. Anything but!

[Daphne – That kind of person found even KMB sexy: as long as it’s a Labour leader…Men just don’t get it. Ask your wives and girlfriends. We immediately pick up on two key facts: 1. that he’s shifty, with a hollow self and a liar, and 2. that he’s a narcissist and therefore any woman in his life will spend it chasing him for something that he just can’t give her.]

I think yesterday was a debating duel that will be written in the history of this country. Both wielded sabers of fire yet undeniably Joseph was able to control the flames and use them solely to his advantage. Lawrence on the other hand lost control time after time and that was a big disappointment I must say. It showed clearly that he was in a state of panic and unable to control the sudden fear of losing 25-2 years of PN’s power in government.

As a businessman I must say Joseph is the choice. Have Pn forgotten their roots ? Have they forgotten us ? What do they think we are? Idiots ? Fools? Giving out votes on a plate of gold to PN solely because they have been in power for so long …. far from it. Opportunities is what we businessmen want and opportunities is what Joseph is going to provide

Well said, Leslie. Prosit. And to affirm your last sentence, yesterday on Xarabank Muscat failed again, in the face of the Maltese people, to say who the experts are, to produce reports and studies and to tell us who from the “privat” is going to pay for all this ghost project of his.

Journalists have neither the will nor the inclination to insist on this with Muscat. They have reduced journalism to just-reporting-level. Indeed, if Muscat pulls this one off, with the complicity of some journalists (and I am not speaking about Labour journalists) Malta does not deserve better.

Muscat knows that many of his supporters do not question what he says. That’s a journalist’s task. But some journalists (especially those at The Times) aid Muscat in deceiving his own people by not pushing for REAL answers and proof. I should hope that journalist DID read Ranier Fsadni’s piece.

When Muscat is elected and throws Malta into economic disaster, then the same journalists will wake up. Sadly, they would discover that it is too late.

Mmm… so exciting! I can’t wait. How much is the payback/ cut expected to be this time round for opportunities not freely available to all? 5%? 10%? or have they upped their expectations and fiscal savviness from the last time round?

And then, what happens when you just happen to fall out of favour because some other “businessman” offers more than you or has better connections.

Were you one of those businessmen who ‘enjoyed’ MLP the last time round?

Really, if you’re a young businessman, newly comfortable in this role – and have no memory or real knowledge of how these people operate, and have employees, have a thought as to not only your survival and well-being but also theirs, and that of their families.

Assess your responsibilities and total risk well. Not all that glitters is golden.

Better slightly less for yourself personally and a safer, more competitive Malta – for everyone – than a Malta gone to the dogs where the players continue to bluff and raise the stakes on a daily basis. I can only hope you’re not serious.

Did you ask him how? And what? And when? Or is this to be developed on a case-by-case basis?

Who do you expect to pick up the pieces when this promise bubble bursts?

Spell it out, please. What exactly would you have under Joseph that you can’t already have under the Nationalists?

Are you 100% certain that a certain degree of incompetence and shortsightedness on your own part isn’t to blame?

Have you by-chance become detached from your business since the first levels of success so that staff or sub-contracted expert assessments are relied upon without sufficient direction, vision and analysis from your end?

Have you kept up with advances in technology etc.? Aren’t the opportunities already there – for all – that you perhaps fail to identify or move with?

And you think that Joseph can help you there?

What is he going to do: give you a manual on how to play chess, reposition the pieces for you, rewrite the game, close off the competition to limited players for a subscription?

I’d be curious to know whether in your heart of hearts, the latter part of the question is what you, and the other businessmen you write about, are really after.